German-French Chair ‘GENIUS’ Launched
At the end of August, a seminar on the circular economy organised by Arts et Métiers and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) marked the scientific launch of the German-French chair ‘GENIUS’ (Next Generation Industry for Sustainability). Aim of GENIUS is to make European industry more sustainable and resilient.
GENIUS builds on almost 30 years of academic collaboration and a ten-year scientific partnership within the French-German Institute for Industry of the Future between KIT and Arts et Métiers. The chair, initially planned for four years, will receive 150,000 Euros in funding from the Franco-German University, supplemented by regional funding.
Joint doctoral programs, innovative teaching methods and applied research
‘The new chair at the intersection between design and manufacturing gives the French-German Institute for Industry of the Future a new quality and will connect the two essential disciplines even more closely than before,’ explains Professor Volker Schulze, scientific coordinator of the French-German Institute for Industry of the Future on the KIT side. His french counterpart and Deputy Director of the Institut Arts et Métiers in Chalon-sur-Saône, Professor Jean-Rémy Chardonnet, adds: ‘By combining our academic and industrial expertise, we are training a new generation of engineers who can think and act sustainably.’
The chair's work focuses on four strategic areas: collaborative design using immersive technologies, advanced manufacturing and recycling processes, optimisation and reconfiguration of production systems, and circular economy. The aim is to make the entire life cycle of industrial products sustainable. GENIUS focuses on the development of joint doctoral programs, innovative teaching approaches and close integration between research and industry. The graduates will be equipped to design, control and transform industrial systems in order to meet major challenges such as ecological transition, the resilience of production chains, technological sovereignty and digital transformation.
sfo, September 15, 2025
People in the photo:
Joint kick-off: Dr. Paul Stief, Arts et Métiers Metz and Scientific Director of GENIUS; Dr. Udo Thelen, Secretary General of the DFH; Prof. Jean-Rémy Chardonnet, Arts et Métiers Chalon-sur-Saône; Prof. Volker Schulze, KIT; Prof. Ivan Iordanoff, Director of Research and Innovation at Arts et Métiers; Prof. Thomas Hirth, Vice President Transfer and International Affairs at KIT (from left to right).